The Look Issue X - Form Over Hue
Centerfold of the mag!
The centerfold of The Look's 10th Issue!! I was brought on by graphic designer and co-creative director Noelle Daunch and creative director Julissa Martinez to write a poem for a spread centered around raising awareness for Mexican-Americans and Palestinians experiencing oppression and genocide. The design uses textile imagery and a red thread to visually tie two female figures together, their ambiguous silhouettes a canvas for the reader to self-insert.
The spread was Risograph printed before being scanned into the final magazine. The Risograph has a long history as a tool of grassroots dissemination -- cheap, fast, and accessible enough that communities under pressure could respond in real time. Since the 1970s it has been used by queer, feminist, anarchist, and anti-war movements to circulate ideas outside of mainstream publishing channels, often anonymously. The stencil-based process leaves no digital trail and requires no commercial printer, which made it a practical choice for publications that needed to move quickly and quietly. Printing this piece on a Riso was a nod to that lineage, furthering the idea that urgent things deserve urgent methods, and that the medium carries the message as well.
The Spanish translation of the poem was inserted into the final spread to carry the message across languages. I was invited to share this piece at the SDSU Students for Justice in Palestine event, An Evening Under the Olive Tree, alongside speakers Amanda Nasser, an emergency nurse practitioner and SDSU alumna who provided relief in Gaza, and Dr. Butch Ware who is currently running for Governer of California.